Difficulty finding new upper-level sciences to take. What are my options?

[bigspongebobfan]

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Hello!

I have posted quite a lot in the past and I apologize but I just want to plan everything out rather than do it on a whim as I did in undergrad. I have a very low sGPA (2.77) and cGPA (2.89). I've taken about 16 credits this past semester following Goro's guide for Reinvention. Out of the recommended courses, I plan to take Bioinformatics, Developmental Biology (if I can find it being offered), Neuroscience, and Cancer Biology in the upcoming semester. However, I have taken a handful of the others, and some are just not being offered.

If all goes well, it seems that I will end up with a 2.92 sGPA. As a result, I only seem to have a few options in mind:

A) Apply to a formal post-bacc (American Cancer Society one)
B) Do an SMP depending on MCAT score
C) Retake pre-reqs that I took online and earned a C/C+ in

Thank you for the help!

 

[polymerization]

There are plenty of upper-division sciences that you can take. Microbiology, immunology, embryology, molecular biology, aging, medical bacteriology, virology, physiology within the more natural sciences; but you can also delve deeper into neuroscience and take courses like psychopathology, human perception, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, biology of addiction, biological vision, neurobiology of learning, electrophysiology, cellular neuroscience and disease, principles of human neuroanatomy, and so on.

An ACS post-bacc is not going to help you because it isn't actually a post-bacc, it's a research fellowship. You don't take classes, so you wouldn't actually be raising your undergraduate GPA. An SMP is not advisable either because you would be building on a graduate GPA, not the undergraduate GPA that is holding you back.

I would recommend going back to your college as a second-bachelor's degree-seeking student and take upper-division coursework to directly address the GPA. It took me ~50 credits or so of straight As to get from 2.9 to 3.5. It was two years of work. I wouldn't recommend retaking Cs if you can help it (nobody is going to be impressed that you ace general biology after having taken organic chemistry and biochemistry—and there is no grade replacement across medical programs, so they will still see the first C anyway).

I agree that this is something you should plan. I would recommend looking through your school's course catalog, identifying courses you would find interesting, and then cross-referencing those course codes with the school's registration portal to see what semesters those courses are being offered.

You could theoretically apply for actual post-bacc programs but I suspect it may be a challenge to gain admission with your GPA as it stands today.

 

[bigspongebobfan]

There are plenty of upper-division sciences that you can take. Microbiology, immunology, embryology, molecular biology, aging, medical bacteriology, virology, physiology within the more natural sciences; but you can also delve deeper into neuroscience and take courses like psychopathology, human perception, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, biology of addiction, biological vision, neurobiology of learning, electrophysiology, cellular neuroscience and disease, principles of human neuroanatomy, and so on.

An ACS post-bacc is not going to help you because it isn't actually a post-bacc, it's a research fellowship. You don't take classes, so you wouldn't actually be raising your undergraduate GPA. An SMP is not advisable either because you would be building on a graduate GPA, not the undergraduate GPA that is holding you back.

I would recommend going back to your college as a second-bachelor's degree-seeking student and take upper-division coursework to directly address the GPA. It took me ~50 credits or so of straight As to get from 2.9 to 3.5. It was two years of work. I wouldn't recommend retaking Cs if you can help it (nobody is going to be impressed that you ace general biology after having taken organic chemistry and biochemistry—and there is no grade replacement across medical programs, so they will still see the first C anyway).

I agree that this is something you should plan. I would recommend looking through your school's course catalog, identifying courses you would find interesting, and then cross-referencing those course codes with the school's registration portal to see what semesters those courses are being offered.

You could theoretically apply for actual post-bacc programs but I suspect it may be a challenge to gain admission with your GPA as it stands today.

Thank you so, so much for your help! This was a big help! I will look into those courses and try to explore further options with my advisor as it seems after a handful of classes, my GPA starts to not budge.

Thank you!